With everything possible in the Secret World, is there anything that you have felt is out of bounds when it comes to subject matter?
Joel Bylos: There has been some attempt to steer away from recent world tragedies. We tend to refer to events such as this obliquely rather than pinpointing anything directly. The general feeling is that pointing to specific events shows a lack of respect for the victims, whereas alluding to a general sense of dark events occurring worldwide fits nicely within the context of the game. Else pretty much anything is fair game.
There definitely appears to be more under the hood in the game than the average MMO these days and it’s clear that you are wanting players to really think about the world and story. Are you concerned at all that players may just not ‘get the concept’ or that players may find it a little too taxing because it involves some actual thinking as they get pulled further into the story?
Joel Bylos: I think that’s a bit harsh on MMO players in general. People absorb the content that is provided to them, and if we provide them with button mashing then that is what they will do.
I believe people are crying out to be challenged, but where this normally falls apart is making the mistake of emphasizing the rewards over the challenges. If people are doing something *only* to be rewarded, then they will search for the path of least resistance.
The aim is to make the challenges enjoyable enough that the players feel rewarded simply for overcoming them. This is something we are encouraging in every aspect of The Secret World – no levels and classes takes the emphasis off *acquisition* and hopefully puts it back on *enjoyment*.
One aspect of the game that really intrigues us is that players will be asked to look outside the game solve clues inside the game by using resources such as the Internet. Has this proved a massive challenge when piecing together the storyline and missions? How many people have you got working on research?
Joel Bylos: Actually it’s probably a lot easier to put these puzzles together than it is to solve them! Because we hold all of the clues, to us each step is logical and clear, whereas for a player having to search among all of the available information it can be a daunting challenge. That’s why we hope and encourage people to work together to solve the investigations.
As for research, ideas always flow in a company as large as Funcom. There is so much diversity and experience in the building. So one of our sound architects might suggest a puzzle that involves certain audible frequencies, while a Project Manager who is into Roller Derby might suggest a puzzle that involves understanding the difference between a jammer and a pivot.
For the more mundane stuff, we can always ask the writers!
With the game being fully voiced, what was the thinking behind that as it’s a huge undertaking and takes a huge amount of development resource to pull it off well. Some developers feel that a having dialogue fully voiced in an MMO breaks the flow of the gameplay, what’s your thoughts on that?
Dag Scheve: It’s about trying to give our players as good an experience as we possibly can. We want our characters to live and breathe, to have personality and to make players connect with them as a part of the world. It's hard to care about what you're doing if there's no kind of emotional involvement, and if we can make players care about the characters they meet in the world, there's a bigger chance they will care about why they are doing what they're doing. Voice and animation are the best tools we have to achieve that, so for us the question was never whether to do it, but how to do it for best effect and making sure it's an integral part of the gameplay rather than something that feels disruptive. I'm really excited about what we have so far, and I hope everyone who plays the game will feel the same.
Will players come across a lot of spoken dialogue throughout the game or is it only on key points in missions or the storyline?
Dag Scheve: All dialogue in the game is spoken. If somebody has something to say to you, they say it. That goes for cinematics, yes, but it also goes for running past an NPC in the world, helping escort a wounded NPC or receiving a phone call.
How exactly are the missions structured? There are the three types you describe in this developer diary, stealth, action and investigative, but how much choice will players have in what they select, and by not selecting certain mission types, will that change the path of the players progression at all? Or do they all have to be completed in a linear sequence?
Joel Bylos: Unlike most MMO’s we have made the decision to limit a player to only a few missions at a time. A story mission that provides overall direction within a zone, a main mission (action, sabotage, investigation, dungeon) which can be any of the abovementioned types and a side mission which tend to be the missions you collect as you explore.
Each mission has a number of tiers. A tier is a progress marker and reward point. Completing a tier gives a minor reward and saves player progress. Missions can unlock other missions and the majority of missions in the game are repeatable.
Players can pick and choose the missions they want to do from the mission givers. The mission types are marked by icons so if you don’t like one of the types, you don’t have to do it.
Try not to think of missions as a linear progression to a storyline, however. Each mission is self-contained and provides and insight into the larger tapestry.
How exactly do the story missions sit alongside the standard mission types? Are the story mission something a player will select in their own time to continue on their player progression path or are the intermingled as the player progresses?
Joel Bylos: You will always have your story mission, from the start of the game and onwards. It sits alongside the other mission types and is more of an umbrella type of mission. Progress on the story mission is not always obvious. A story mission goal, for example, could be “Investigate events in Kingsmouth”. As players explore the events through playing the other missions in Kingsmouth, they will unlock further progress on the story mission – but only as they discover pertinent events to the story.
When it came do deciding on the secret societies, what made you choose the Dragon, Templar and Illuminati? You must have had lots you could have gone for. So what was it about the three you decided on that you thought would appeal to the players?
Dag Scheve: You're absolutely right. The number of possibilities was close to endless. There were many, many factors involved in the final decision, and I could never hope to cover all of those in a short and snappy answer. I can say there were hours upon hours of research and discussion involved. We wanted factions that were both geographically and philosophically distinct. Something that was both recognizable and mysterious. It was about finding pieces of history that were likely to fascinate as well as inspire, I suppose.
Will there at any point be the chance to switch sides? In other words, say I am not happy with the way things are going in the Templars, could I decide that another society would be better for me and my ideology?
Joel Bylos: There will be no faction switching in the game. These choices are for life and a character commits to this choice.
What has been the most exciting aspect of coming up with the mission types and the missions themselves, and what would you say makes the missions and story really stand out from any other MMO currently or coming onto the market?
Joel Bylos: The setting is an amazing opportunity to create missions and mission types. There is so much you can do and the potential box of ideas so large that it can be daunting at times. I think what will make The Secret World missions and story stand out is the attention that we demand of the player. We want them to live in this world, not just visit it from time to time.
Thanks to Joel and Dag for taking the time out to chat.
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